FAA and Regs

While reading over USA Todays exhaustive-and exhausting-indictment of general aviation, I was struck by the inescapable feeling that Id been given the Disney tour of every plaintiffs file room for the past 40 years, without benefit of hearing what cross examination revealed in the court cases this reporting obviously leaned so heavily upon. So much […]

The U.S. House of Representatives Tuesday voted to provide $15.7 billion to the Federal Aviation Administration in fiscal year 2015, representing a slight increase from the current $15.6 billion funding level. AOPA is reporting that the bill prohibits the imposition of aviation user fees and also fees for digital navigational charts. The bill also directs […]

Virgin Galactic, the privately funded space company owned by Sir Richard Bransons Virgin Group and Abu Dhabis aabar Investments PJS, and Spaceport America announcedthat they have signed a joint agreement with the Federal Aviation Administration that helps clear the path for commercial flights of SpaceShipTwo. The agreement sets out the parameters for how routine space […]

I dont know whether to be shocked, surprised or skeptical of this weeks reports that Customs and Border Protection is re-examining its policies toward stop-and-search of private aircraft. For now, I think Ill go with skeptical. The reasons are several, chief among them being that CBP is a giant, complex and largely opaque bureaucracy of […]

The most savage controversies are those about matters as to which there is no good evidence either way. – Bertrand Russell That which is legal is not always safe, and that which is safe is not always legal. – John Deakin These two quotes are most appropriate when talking about traffic pattern entries. What IS […]

Cessna Aircrafts Citation Latitude midsize business jet has received type inspection authorization from the Federal Aviation Administration, and the first production airplane has joined the flight test program. Obtaining type inspection authorization is a significant step toward certification from the FAA. It allows Cessna to begin accumulating flight hours that will apply toward official certification. […]

The FAA is urging those who didn’t make it in its latest air traffic control recruitment to try again. In a statement to AVweb (PDF) it also says it plans to make “further improvements” to the controversial new hiring protocol. However, it doesn’t appear to be considering going back to the old system. As we […]

Recently, the FAA changed how it recruits candidates for ATC positions, focusing on hiring candidates from its FAA Air Traffic Collegiate Training Initiative (AT-CTI) program. This may seem logical, but the devil is in the details. Historically, candidates for AT-CTI program were evaluated on their work and educational experience directly related to ATC job functions, […]

Sixteen media organizations filed a brief (PDF) with the National Transportation Safety Board in support of aerial photographer Raphael Pirker. Pirker was fined $10,000 by the FAA for flying a drone near the University of Virginia to make a commercial video in October 2011. An administrative law judge ruled in March that the FAA can’t […]

I hear it consistently, Yeah, Ill do the ADS-B bit later, once there are more boxes to chose from and the price comes down, Ive got lots of time. Maybe not. While the sky is not falling, pilots are notorious for procrastinating when it comes to compliance with regs-ask any AME whether the demand for […]